- 1). Create a pattern for your chainmail with the old sheet. Cut rectangles for the front and back pieces and shoulder straps. If you want sleeves, cut a rectangle the length of your arms and wide enough to wrap around them. It is better to have the patterns a little larger than necessary rather than too small.
- 2). Saw the pipe into rings between 3/16 inch and 1/4 inch wide. You will need thousands of rings to create the chainmail, so you may wish to use power tools. After the rings have been cut they will have little plastic splinters around their edges; file these off to create smooth edges.
- 3). Cut through one side of about half the rings with tin snips. These are the open rings, the uncut rings are the closed rings. Spray paint all the rings and allow to dry.
- 4). Loop one open ring through four closed rings. Lay these five rings out flat.
- 5). Loop another open link around another two closed rings.
- 6). Weave the two closed rings on the left from Step 4 onto the open ring in Step 5. Repeat this until the chainmail is as wide as you want it to be. To start another row, simply place an open ring through two closed rings, and then weave that open ring through the first and second closed rings from the row above.
- 7). Attach the different pieces of chainmail together to create your final garment, either using string to lace the pieces together, or adding a few extra PVC links to hold the pieces together.
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